Am I Disabled Enough to Qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits?LawyersUpdated on Feb 8, 2016 View more like this | Visit KNOXVILLE, TN | Contact Bill Hotz |
If you have worked for long enough and are now unfit for work due to a disability, you may be entitled to Social Security Disability Benefits. But what exactly qualifies you for disability benefits? There are a few things that they will look for in your application to prove that you are sufficiently disabled to qualify. Here are the main questions that you will have to answer in order for your application to be successful.
Are You Working?
If you are currently working and your earnings are $1,090 or above, then it is highly unlikely that you can be considered disabled. If however you are not working, your application for disability benefits will be forwarded to the Disability Determination Services office, and they will address the next four points.
Is Your Condition Severe?
In order to be considered disabled, your condition must interfere with your work activities. This can mean inability to walk, severe pain in movement, or strong possibility of losing consciousness, etc.
Is Your Condition Found on the List of Disabling Conditions?
For each of the major systems in your body, there is a list of medical conditions that are at such a level of severity that they automatically qualify you as disabled. If your condition is not on the list then it must be equal in severity to a similar condition on the list. If it is not, the process moves on to the next point.
Can You Continue the Work You Did Previously?
If your medical condition does not match in severity of the conditions on the list, then it must be determined whether your condition interferes with the work that you do. If it does not, they your application will be denied at this point. However, if it does, the next question must be answered.
Can You Do Any Other Type of Work?
If you cannot continue to take part in the work that you have previously done, then the option to change jobs must be explored. For this, your age, education level, experience, and transferable skills that you may have, are considered. If you cannot adjust to other work then your claim will be approved. If it is possible that you could adjust to other work, then your claim will be denied.
Social Security has a different definition of disability than other programs. Social Security is only payable when the disability is total, and not when it is short term. To qualify for Social Security you must be unable to work, unable to adjust to a different category of work, and your disability must already have lasted or is expected to last more than a year, or it will result in death.
Social Security regulations assume that working families will have other sources of income to support them in times of short term disability such as savings, insurance, and compensation.
Your search for Knoxville social security disability attorney ends here. Bill Hotz and Associates is law firm that has been helping people get approved for their social security disability benefits for over 25 years. We’ve a team of over 30 Knoxville social security lawyers & paralegals.
Are You Working?
If you are currently working and your earnings are $1,090 or above, then it is highly unlikely that you can be considered disabled. If however you are not working, your application for disability benefits will be forwarded to the Disability Determination Services office, and they will address the next four points.
Is Your Condition Severe?
In order to be considered disabled, your condition must interfere with your work activities. This can mean inability to walk, severe pain in movement, or strong possibility of losing consciousness, etc.
Is Your Condition Found on the List of Disabling Conditions?
For each of the major systems in your body, there is a list of medical conditions that are at such a level of severity that they automatically qualify you as disabled. If your condition is not on the list then it must be equal in severity to a similar condition on the list. If it is not, the process moves on to the next point.
Can You Continue the Work You Did Previously?
If your medical condition does not match in severity of the conditions on the list, then it must be determined whether your condition interferes with the work that you do. If it does not, they your application will be denied at this point. However, if it does, the next question must be answered.
Can You Do Any Other Type of Work?
If you cannot continue to take part in the work that you have previously done, then the option to change jobs must be explored. For this, your age, education level, experience, and transferable skills that you may have, are considered. If you cannot adjust to other work then your claim will be approved. If it is possible that you could adjust to other work, then your claim will be denied.
Social Security has a different definition of disability than other programs. Social Security is only payable when the disability is total, and not when it is short term. To qualify for Social Security you must be unable to work, unable to adjust to a different category of work, and your disability must already have lasted or is expected to last more than a year, or it will result in death.
Social Security regulations assume that working families will have other sources of income to support them in times of short term disability such as savings, insurance, and compensation.
Your search for Knoxville social security disability attorney ends here. Bill Hotz and Associates is law firm that has been helping people get approved for their social security disability benefits for over 25 years. We’ve a team of over 30 Knoxville social security lawyers & paralegals.
